The Parable of
The Rich Man & Lazarus

Luke 16:19-31 "Now there was a certain rich man, and he was
clothed
in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. A certain beggar,
named Lazarus, was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be
fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the
dogs came and licked his sores. It happened that the beggar died, and
that
he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also
died, and was buried. In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in
torment,
and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.

He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send
Lazarus,
that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For
I am in anguish in this flame.’

"But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime,
received
your good things, and Lazarus, in like manner, bad things. But now here
he is comforted and you are in anguish. Besides all this, between us
and
you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here
to you are not able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’

He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my
father’s house; for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them,
so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’

"But Abraham said to him,
‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’

"He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the
dead,
they will repent.’

"He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets,neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’"
(web)

Discussion Questions

Interpretation:

Why do you suppose the brothers would not have been convinced even
if
Lazrus was raised from the dead?
Was there ever a "Lazarus" raised from the dead? (John 11)
What effect did it have on the skeptics? (John 12:9-11)

Application:

What part do miracles play in convincing people that God has spoken?
What kind of evangelism program would you recommend?
What do you think of basing on evangelism program on "whatever works"?
And if so how would you measure "what works"?

Comments

There are those who object to the illustration of the afterlife that
Jesus
presents here. There are those who propose that this is only a story
and
therefore is not necessarily true to life. However, notice that
all
of Jesus' other stories and parables were true to life. He
doesn't
use science-fiction scenarios in his stories. He presented the
after-life
the way it actually was.

The afterlife was referred to as Hades and was composed of two
parts.
One for the unrighteous, which is often called "Hell", and the other
for
the righteous which may also be called "Paradise" along the lines
of Jesus promise to the thief on the cross to whom he promised "Today
you
will be with me in Paradise" Luke 23:43

There are only these two sections and nothing in between. There is
no
one half-righteous and half-unrighteous. There is no one half-born of
God.
"He
who has the son has life. He who does not have the son of God does not
have life."1John 5:12 Those who have the son are reckoned
righteous,
their sins having been forgiven and forgotten.

The Major Theme:
Evangelism from Hell

In this story, it is not specified as to why the rich man went to hell.
It was implied that it was because he was given over to luxuries and
pleasure
while at the same time not loving his neighbor. But this was not
the major theme. The major theme has to do with the last verse.
It
has to do with the Bible alone being sufficient to bring people to
repentance
and salvation. "Faith comes from hearing the message."Rom
10:17
And Jesus said, "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for
he
wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you
going to believe what I say?"John 5:46,47

Yet many Christians have been taught that it is highly dependent
upon
the messenger. It is not! If someone doesn't listen to the
Bible, it wouldn't matter even if the messenger speaking to them had
been
raised from the dead! "Lifestyle Evangelism" is a misnomer. If
you
think you are going to convert people by not telling them what the
Bible
says, but rather by impressing them by what a good person you are, you
will indeed make converts, few of whom will believe the Bible. Rather
they'll
end up being just like you - putting their faith in themselves rather
than
in the Word of God.

The rich man in hell wanted to start his own evangelistic program.
He
had his own ideas as to how it should be done which seemed logical to
him.
Let's make a big show and impress people with miracles. That's
evangelism
from hell. And while the Evangelical community is caught
up in "lifestyle evangelism", the Charismatic community is caught up in
trying to impress through alleged "signs and wonders". But let
those
who are born of the Word, put their trust in the Bible. Let the Jesus
who
is preached be the Jesus of the Bible and not a "Jesus" that people
make
up in their own minds. Let the message be exalted and preached through
humble messengers who put their trust in the Word of God.

But then there are those refusing to heed Jesus' message who say
that
"whatever works is how evangelism should be done." They measure
if
it "works" based on numbers of converts. But they fail to
consider
what kind of converts they produce. Yes, if the word of God is
preached,
there may very well be those who are converted and born of God.
But
often with "numbers" being the priority, a large portion of such
"converts"
end up being Christians in name only, not having been born of the
Spirit.
And such converts end up having the same kind of mentality as the
messenger
- a contempt for the Word of God putting one's own opinion above the
Bible
and thus an over-exalted view of oneself or of the messenger. The
"Jesus"
of such converts often becomes not the Biblical Jesus, but the "Jesus"
they make up in their own minds conforming him to their own image.

The Resurrection of Lazarus

It may be hard to believe that the raising of Lazarus wouldn't convert
the skeptic to truth faith. But in fact there was a "Lazarus", a
friend of Jesus, who was raised from the dead in John 11. And this is
how
Jesus' enemies reacted:

"Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus
was
there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus,
whom
he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to
kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were
going
over to Jesus and putting their faith in him." John 12:9-11

However this brings up another issue. For Jesus often used miracles to
affirm his message.

The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you
keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus
answered,
"I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my
Father's
name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my
sheep."John
10:24-26

But notice that he says that even though the miracles affirm his
message,
just as the rich man in hell had reasoned, yet it is to no avail if
they
had not believed the Word of God that they already heard through Moses.
(John 5:46,47) So also, among those in John 12:11
mentioned
above who were putting their faith in him on account of the
resurrection
of Lazarus, were those who had been believing Moses and the Prophets,
and
also those who were of a nominal faith only impressed by the miracle.

Remember that Acts is historical in nature, recording what people
were
called and did outwardly, not necessarily what they were
inwardly.
For many, as in John 6, who followed him because of his miracles later
turned away because of his words. Jesus answered, "I tell you the
truth,
you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but
because
you ate the loaves and had your fill." John 6:26"From
this
time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him."John
6:66 And that's the problem if you rely on "Evangelism from
hell".
If you want to keep the numbers you have to throw away the Bible. But
Jesus
was not interested in "what worked" in a numbers sense. He was
more
concerned with quality than quantity. Indeed, it seems that in
many
churches, Jesus Christ would be expelled from their evangelistic
ministry
team. Things were going so well, Jesus. We had so many
crowds
of people. But then you opened your mouth and spoke the Word of God and
screwed up everything. Now no one comes but a bunch of Bible fanatics.
Seems that things never change!

Rap

There was rich man dressed in fine linen
Living in luxury though he was sinnin
At his gate lay a beggar, Lazarus by name
Covered with sores being treated with shame
He wanted to eat crumbs from the rich man's table.
Even dogs licked his sore, for he was not able.
Then the time came when the beggar died
And angels carried him to Abraham's side.
The rich man man died also his body but a shell
For he awoke to his torment, ending up in hell
He looked up and saw Abraham far away
And Lazarus by his side. That's what he saw that day
He called "Father Abraham have pity on me
And send Lazarus to attend to my plea
For I ask just a bit of water to acquire
For my tongue burns in agony in this fire
But Abraham replied, "Remember my son
You received your good things and had plenty of fun.
While Lazarus had only asked for a crumb
While he suffered he was treated just like a bum
But now he is in comfort and you in agony
That seems rather fair, wouldn't you agree?
And besides all this a big gap has been fixed
Between here and you so we cannot be mixed."
The rich man answered, "Then I beg you
Send him to my house to tell my brothers what's true
So they won't come to this place" (He supposes)
Abraham replied, "They have the prophets and Moses
Let them listen to what is read"
"No," He replied, "Let someone come from the dead.
Then they will listen and even repent."
But he got this reply to his argument
"If they don't listen as the Bible advises
Nor will they listen even though someone rises."